On My Honour IV
Two years ago
Raybow Hotel
“Who here can recite the National Pledge?”
The room of young professionals buzzed with mummering and nervous laughter. The speaker abandoned his podium, as was his custom, pacing through the audience.
“We said it many times in school, our palms firmly pressed to our hearts. But did we mean any of those words? Did we understand that we were bound by those promises? Promises we never meant to keep?”
The room grew silent, as it always did. His voice a deep timbre ricocheted off the walls, rising with each pointed statement.
“We let our children slip through the cracks, with no understanding of where they came from or what it means to be who they are. And so patriotism has died on the altar of greed and self-serving. It’s each man for himself, and his family. And all the while, the nation languishes in poverty in the midst abundance.”
“But you’re here today, at this Republic Day lecture, because you want to rekindle the dying embers of your nationalism, because you are sick and tired of the stench of corruption, greed and broad daylight pillaging. So, let’s start simple. We are going to say those words, again, with meaning. We are going to think them over and we are going to resolve to do what we say. Now, who is going to lead us in this monumental step?”
A number of hands shot up.
Kwabena Berko smiled. He had his eye on one at the the back who was already on his feet.
“What’s your name?”
The young man cleared his throat. “Aikins. Ato Aikins.”
***
Heritage Newspaper
01:58 pm
Kwabena Berko paced his office, waiting for his phone to ring, There was a knock on the door and it opened. Viva Asante poked her head in.
“I have to go. They can take it from here.”
“Thank you. And sorry we kept you waiting.”
His phone started to ring and he snatched it up. it wasn’t Aikins. He puffed out air.
Where is this boy?
“He hasn’t called?”
“No.”
“They’re not going to harm him in broad daylight.”
“You don’t know that. These people are desperate.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe he disobeyed me. I told him to stay here. If anything happens to him…”
“That would be the consequence of his choice. It’s not on you.”
Kwabena Berko smiled bitterly. “You don’t understand. I did this to them. I rammed the significance of country and patriotism over their heads. They are my responsibility. Rahim is dead because of me. If something were to happen to another one…”
He turned away, staring out the window, looking into a world, a country he didn’t recognize anymore.
Viva closed the door behind her.
“The man who came here, he said if we stayed away, they’d stay away. He should have listened to me.”
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” Viva said.
Kwabena Berko turned to face the young woman. “Excuse me?”
She folded her arms. “I’ve sat through your lectures, sir. You’ve always maintained that it’s a life-defining moment when one choses country over self. Rahim made that choice, and I assume his protégé is doing same. These people you hired, they make that choice every day when they go out there knowing they’re going to get slapped, spat on or beat up by the police. And they trust you to do same.
This country was founded on the blood and toil of our fathers. It’s going to take nothing less from us to ensure a piece of it remains for the next generation. The work you do is important It is important to establish that actions have consequences so the next person who thinks about going against the law reconsiders his actions. That’s what your people are risking their lives to do: to stop the triumph of evil. The question here is, are you going to keep doing nothing?”
Kwabena Berko regarded the young woman in a new light. When Vortex called him the evening of Rahim’s death to offer their services free of charge, he had been grateful but weary. Up until this time, he hadn’t given thought to her motive. But there it was. She believed in their fight. And she was right. In moments like this, he was reminded that he wasn’t just an old man holding on to a dying dream of a better nation.
Before he could tell her all that, Viva took a look at her phone, excused herself and practically ran out of his office.
***
“Andy, I’m on my way now. Is he still at the beach?” Viva hurried out of the building, on the phone with her head of operations.
“Eeerm… not exactly.”
She stopped. “Well, where is he?”
***
Poobee Biney Road
02:11 pm
Ato stared at the roof of his car, his mind a blank slate. Minutes ago, the men had patted him down and found nothing. They knew he didn’t have the drive on him. And yet, they had asked him nothing. Behind them, the police car followed closely.
In all that time, he hadn’t said a word. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid. He had plans: buy a piece of land, build a house, get married, have children, and someday become the journalist of the year for three consecutive years. He’d done none of that. He thought of his father and his sisters.
God.
He had to get a grip.
Think, Ato. What would Rahim do?
He sat up as straight as he could manage with his arms still at his back. If these were his final moments, he had to make them count somehow.
“Where are we going?”
Silence.
“You’re not policemen, are you?”
The driver turned around briefly, glaring.
They were at the the Paa Grant roundabout now. He took the first exit onto the New Takoradi Road, towards Monkey Hill. The dilapidated road was flanked on both sides by trees whose leafy branches peered over it. The car came to a stop and both men stepped out.
Ato looked through the glass at a taxi passing by. Its driver stared at him, then looked away. Shouting for help wasn’t going to helpful. An passerby would probably think he was a criminal in police custody.
He jumped when the door opened.
A man in glasses sat beside him and leaned into the seat.
“Mr. Aikins, it’s good to finally meet you. You’ve had us running up and down all morning.” He beamed.
“Who are you?”
“I’m here on behalf of a very good friend who lost an item. My understanding is that you happened to find this item. Or rather, someone found it, and gave it to you. I’m here to ask your help to get it back.”
Ato realized then Hussein’s paranoia was justified; someone had been watching them the whole time.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
Ato thought of Hussein. If they’d been watching, did they follow him then? Did they have him?
“Like I said, I’ve been authorized to reward you handsomely for your troubles. All you have to do is return this item. I’m authorized to make a deal with you.”
Ato sneered. “You don’t have any authority. You’re a lackey. You do whatever they tell you and they give you a few notes. Just enough to keep you loyal and coming back for me. Why isn’t Honourable Kenneth Acheampong here himself? Did you ask yourself that? Because he doesn’t want to be implicated in any way.”
As he spoke, a thought occurred to Ato. They wanted to make a deal with him? Why? Why kill one and not the other? Perhaps he could use that to his advantage instead of antagonizing this man.
“Yes or no, Mr. Aikins?”
“How much?”
The man looked taken aback. “Pardon?”
“How much are you offering?”
He gathered himself. “We are prepared to offer you unlimited funding for any project you choose to pursue, inside information on all government contracts henceforth, and a feature article in any international news agency of your choosing. You say yes to that, and you walk out right now. Of course, after you return the lost item. Trust me, there’ll always be bigger fish to fry. I’d advise you to live to fight another day. That’s just an expression, and not a threat. I want to be clear on that.”
Ato knew his answer, and yet, it hit him how easily he could say yes to this. Perhaps that’s how they’d swayed the mighty Kwabena Berko.
“Mr. Aikins, do we have a deal?”
“Okay. I’ll show you where it is.”
He figured he had bought himself some time, to think of a way to get out of this.
“Awurade!” The man was staring the rear windshield, a bewildered look on his face. Ato followed his gaze to find a police pickup truck was pulling up just behind them.
The man wiped his sleeve across his forehead and stepped out. Minutes later, Ato’s side door opened. A policeman stared him in the face.
“Ato Aikins?”
“Yes, sir.”
As he was uncuffed, Ato looked around, confused. Then he saw a familiar face a few metres away. He walked up to Viva.
“It’s nice to see you’re in one piece, Mr. Aikins.” She smiled.
Ato stopped some steps away. “You brought them?”
“I assumed you didn’t want to die. You’re welcome.”
Ato maintained his position. Viva worked for Kwabena Berko, and he was compromised. So why had she rescued him?
“How did you find me?”
“There’s a tracker under your car. Your boss suspected you’d get yourself in trouble. He was right.”
Ato read her facial expression. If she was telling the truth, that meant Kwabena Berko was not compromised. But was she?
“We should get going.”
“I think I’ll wait for my car.”
Viva looked at the scene where the three men were being bundled into the pickup. “That’s going to take a while. You don’t have a while.”
She was right about that. He’d hidden the drive in the boulders after Hussein left. It was meant to be precautionary, while he figured out how to proceed. All the person watching would have seen was him sitting on the rocks briefly. If they hadn’t figured out what he did already, they would soon enough when they found out Hussein didn’t have it either.
“Besides, the man who was tailing you is probably still around. It wouldn’t be smart to pick up the drive by yourself.”
Ato didn’t hide his surprise. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m not going to steal your evidence, Mr. Aikins. We both want the same thing. I realize you have questions but you have to trust me on that.”
“I’m sorry, Viva, but given recent events, you’ll pardon me if I don’t immediately take every word you say as gospel truth.”
She sighed, her irritation masked by a tight smile.
“Very well then. I’ve known about your investigation for months. Your boss didn’t ask me to put a tracker on you, and I didn’t come here on his behalf. I am here because Michael Nsiah Asante, the man whose life’s work was destroyed by the Alpha Group of companies and its political allies, is my father. So, can we go now?”
***
Dare looked on at the chaos down the road. Perhaps, he had underestimated the journalist. He couldn’t have known to follow the other man. And now tracking him down was going to take time. Time they didn’t have. Which is why when the honorable called a minute ago, he had agreed to initiate plans which would have the journalist talking within minutes. Plans that involved less talking and more screaming. But now, Vortex securities involved.
That complicated things.
He had done some freelance work for them, under a different management. He knew what he would be up against. But still, he had a job to do. Once shit hit the fan, it was people like him who would bear the brunt of it. A hundred years imprisonment for the bottom feeders, and a resignation to a cushy retirement for the men in suits. The honourable was a despicable man whose idiocy had bungled everything. But he was right. There was only one clean way out of this. Dare reached into his jacket, caressing the cold metal of his semi-automatic pistol.
He dialled a number and waited, pulling out his nokia phone.
“Dare my man!”
“Fala fala. Boossu, what’s up?”
“Ei. You don’t look for me o.”
“I know, Fala. I’ve been a bit busy.
“Mr. Contractor no no.”
“Sharp koraa.” He rubbed a hand over nose. “So, are you still at Vortex?”
“Where else do I have to go? You know the system hard.”
“How would you like to make ten thousand cedis cash?”
On the ‘yam’ phone, he pushed an amount through to Fala’s MoMo account.“
“Ten thousand cedis? Chale, I’m not in the mood for jokes. Man’s hot hot hot.”
“You know I don’t joke with money. Check your phone.”
Fala was silent for several seconds. A MoMo alert of five thousand Cedis could do that to a man.
He cleared his throat, switching to business mode.
“Okay. Tell me what you need.”
©2020 AMA POMAA
Photo by Ty Williams on Unsplash
Another episode in record time! I’m proud of me, and I hope you are too 🙂 . I’d love to hear your thoughts before the final episode drops next week.
Stay safe.
